President Donald Trump "absolutely ... should accept" the results of Monday's Electoral College presidential vote if that final tally makes it official that Joe Biden is the president-elect, Gov. Pete Ricketts said Monday.
Anticipating the final results, the Republican governor said "we lost the presidency, which was a great disappointment to Republicans," but Republicans "did very well nationally" in terms of congressional and state contests.
Ricketts was asked about the approaching Electoral College gatherings throughout the nation at a COVID-19 news briefing on a day when Nebraska hailed the arrival of the first shipments of vaccine to battle the pandemic.
Nebraska has received its initial shipments, the governor said, while declining to identify which hospitals have received them or the time of arrival, citing security concerns.
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Bryan Health in Lincoln and CHI Health said Monday both their health systems have received vaccine doses and were beginning to vaccinate front-line medical workers.
The shipments are going to hospitals throughout the state to provide initial priority vaccinations for front-line health care workers and both the residents and caretakers at long-term care facilities.
The initial shipments of the Pfizer vaccine are expected to provide 15,600 doses.
Nebraska has been told to still expect a total of 104,000 coronavirus vaccine doses during December, with Moderna anticipating approval of its COVID-19 vaccine later this week, said Dr. Gary Anthone, the state's chief medical officer.
Meanwhile, as the surge in coronavirus cases in Nebraska continued to ease, Anthone said the state may already have absorbed its anticipated Thanksgiving holiday spike.
"It's unlikely, but still possible" that the aftermath of travel and family gatherings during Thanksgiving celebrations may prompt a new push, Anthone said, "but every day that is more remote."
Nebraska already has eased some of its pandemic restrictions in automatic reaction to a decline in the percentage of hospital beds occupied by COVID-19 patients.
The newest figures showed 692 coronavirus patients occupying 4,031 of the staffed hospital beds, far below the 25% figure that the governor set for imposing greater restrictions on public activities.
"We have seen a steady decline in patients over the past two weeks," Anthone said.
Catholic Bishop James Conley of Lincoln, who was one of the guests at the governor's briefing, said Monday's initial distribution of the vaccine provides "great hope that this is the beginning of the end of this pandemic."
"Our real hope is in Jesus Christ," he said.
Conley said his mother, who is 92, has tested positive for COVID-19 and is "not doing well."
Rhonda Lahm, director of the Nebraska Department of Motor Vehicles, who also addressed the briefing, reminded Nebraskans who are 72 or older with licenses that expire on or after Jan. 1 that they must renew their licenses in person.
Concluding Monday's event in answer to a question, Ricketts heaped praise on the economic accomplishments of the Trump administration.Â
The president's policies resulted in tax cuts, reduced government regulation, produced low unemployment figures prior to the pandemic and resulted in a decrease in income inequality, the governor said.
Under those policies, "everybody benefits," Ricketts said.Â
Trump's presidency has provided "tremendous benefit for people," he said, and "made lives better for people."
THE SCENE IN LINCOLN DURING THE PANDEMIC: